Over the past few months I'm sure many people on the forum have noticed adverts on Gumtree from an anonymous seller based in Centurion offering what look like restored kombi's at very high asking prices. I for one am intrigued to know if anyone on ACVWSA has actually gone out to look at any of these vehicles. At present three are advertised on Gumtree:

Whatever we might think about this guy, he sure knows how to find the nice ones. Here's another of his ads. His location has changed again (Sandton, Centurion and now Joburg) and he still doesn't give any info about himself or his business. He does come acorss as dodgy; it's no wonder so many of his deals fall through.http://www.gumtree.co.za/a-cars-bakkies ... 0815492509

fig
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"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right." -- Henry Ford

That's true Fig...He must have quite a network in place and does have some great vehicles for sale...which makes me wonder as to who he actually is. He may be a well-known character in the AC community for all we know who has such a bad reputation that he now has to vet who he communicates with in order to avoid being identified...It's all very strange...

He may know how to buy kombi's, but he sure doesn't know how to sell them If he put that kombi on for R 120 000 he's sell it for R 100 000 very quickly. His problem is that he is purposely excluding local buyers for some bizarre reason by pricing for his perception of the UK market. The Poms want to pay R 100 000 max for a kombi - that's what they offer me when I advertise. They still need to spend R 35 000 to export...This guy has a cock-eyed business plan which is just not working.

Has anyone on these forums managed to see any of the cars this guy has offered? Does anyone know who he is?

Most of his ads have no name, just "Gumtree User". Two of the ads that look like his style had names: Edward Jonker and Mark Jones. I don't know if those were indeed his ads, but they were written in the same style, with no contact details.

fig
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"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right." -- Henry Ford

I clicked on "View seller's other ads and got this, which proves the kombis wanted ad is from the same guy as all the expensive buses for sale. He once called himself Mark Jones in the kombis wanted ad. His location has varied between Sandton, Centurion and Joburg:

gtadsscreendump.jpg

The 11 buses for sale and all the Zim project buses show as a different seller, although all the ads are written in the same style, so probably the same seller. Most of these ads have said the buses are based in Kempton Park, including the first ad for the 11, which was advertised initially by Edward Jonker. The ad was edited quite quickly and now location is Joburg and seller is "Gumtree User".

Another interesting thing I noticed is the pinned map that gumtree posts to show buyers where to go is often at odds with where the ad says he is. One of his Centurion ads has a map showing Kempton Park, and his two most recent Joburg ads show location as Germiston, and the 11 Zim buses ostensibly offered by a different seller have a map showing the same Germiston location. The ad for the KG says Centurion, while the map shows Kempton Park again. It does seem they are all one seller and this business of shifting names and locations is super dodgy.

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fig
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"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right." -- Henry Ford

Some more digging has confirmed that the guy in Kempton Park selling the Zim split buses is indeed someone called Edward Jonker. The slippery character selling the expensive buses from Sandton/Centurion/Joburg/wherever and calling himself Mark Jones seems to be working with the Kempton Park crew. There is a SA motoring journalist called Mark Jones, but I have no idea of it's the same person.

fig
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"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right." -- Henry Ford